RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano moved to No. 2 in program history in career assists Thursday to lift The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) Western Athletic Conference (WAC) victory over the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
In the third set, Emiliano set up a big kill by junior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu, recording her 28
th assist of the match and increasing her career total to 2,962, jumping
Dubravka Vukoja in the program record books. Emiliano sits at 2,970, now chasing
Chelsea Blakely's 3,905 assists, the program record.
Lupescu led the Vaqueros (8-8, 2-1 WAC) with 10 kills on .259 hitting and had one ace and five digs. Emiliano earned her ninth double-double with 36 assists, a match-high 15 digs and one ace. Junior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis added eight kills on .259 hitting and a season-high 11 digs. Senior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos had seven kills on.267 hitting with three digs, one assist and 3.5 blocks.
Southern Utah (4-9, 0-3 WAC) was led offensively by
Natasha Obradovic's eight kills.
Andrea Spasojevic added six kills and a team-high 13 digs, while setter
Teniyah Leuluai dished out 22 assists.
The opening set was a very even frame on paper. Southern Utah outhit UTRGV .259 to .258, and the battling squads were almost even in most stat categories. But the grittiness of the Vaqueros lifted them to the 25-21 win for the early advantage. UTRGV started the set on a 5-0 run to gain control early and responded well when the Thunderbirds went on a 5-0 run of their own midway through the frame. Santos and Key slammed down crucial kills, with Key putting the set away.
The second set was a battle from start to finish. The teams swapped small scoring runs to a 10-10 tie, then the Vaqueros created some cushion with help from a block by junior
Perris Key, who had eight kills on .263 hitting, and Santos. The Thunderbirds went on a 5-0 run to take a 15-12 lead at the media timeout, then UTRGV ripped off four in a row to get back in control. Lupescu and Santos stepped up in a big way down the stretch to give the Vaqueros a 2-0 lead in a tight second set, 25-23.
UTRGV dominated the third set to secure the sweep. The defense was relentless, with every player on the court sacrificing their bodies to get under balls and showing their stamina as rallies got long. Freshman middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant contributed four kills and one block in the final frame. Assis delivered several hard kills to help UTRGV lead by as many as nine points as the Vaqueros controlled the frame.
The Vaqueros host Utah Tech on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Fans can purchase tickets at
GoUTRGV.com/Tickets. Current UTRGV students receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
WAC International.
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